BIMP-EAGA’s economy has become more vibrant since the initiative was launched in 1994. The subregion’s combined gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 stood at $322.8 billion, up 12.36% from $287.3 billion in 2017.
The subregion's macroeconomic fundamentals remain robust, with GDP growing 6.9% before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The crisis, however, dampened consumption and production, resulting in the BIMP-EAGA economy contracting by 3.5% in 2020. Weaker demand due to the pandemic also weighed on total trade in goods, which fell by 11.4% to $95.3 billion last year from $107.6 billion.
But investors remained keen on BIMP-EAGA despite the pandemic. Foreign direct investments jumped by nearly 32.0% to $12.8 billion in 2020 from $9.7 billion in 2019. Domestic investments also increased, jumping 33.3% to $9.2 billion from $6.9 billion in 2019.
BIMP-EAGA also continues to make inroads in the roll-out of key infrastructure projects. As of October 2021, BIMP-EAGA has a rolling pipeline of 88 Priority Infrastructure Projects worth $24.23 billion, with 27 fully completed. Eight have been completed in phases, 10 are to be completed this year, and 43 are in various stages of implementation.
Among projects completed in 2020 were the Temburong Bridge (Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien) in Brunei Darussalam, the Manado–Bitung Link (Toll Road) in Indonesia, the LNG ISO Tank Export Facilities in Sarawak, Malaysia, and the General Santos Astropolis Airport in the Philippines.